Landor muttered, "Essence fat?"
He shook his head. He would discuss this with Daren later. Right now, he had to hurry. He picked up Daren's unconscious body and brought it closer to the trunk.
Well, the remaining husk. Very carefully, he took Daren's arm and pressed his hand against the trunk, ensuring that he didn't touch the tree himself.
The husk turned to dust as if it had finally fulfilled its purpose. The remaining roots also turned to dust. Only a pale orange, almost yellow bead remained. The bead had a vague shadow of an Aspen tree. Seeing the bead, he sighed in relief. If he had accidentally touched the tree, all of their efforts would have been ruined, and the Origin Bead would have been wasted.
He carefully kept the Origin Bead in a leather pouch and slung the boy on his back. They had to leave. The large commotion was bound to attract predators. He quickly left the grove. It was a bit awkward, but Landor didn't mind. He quickly followed the path he had memorised to the cave where they had rested before.
Once inside, he took out a pouch and dropped its contents into a waterskin. He shook it and then spread the liquid at the entrance of the cave. He also sprinkled some inside the cave. The powder, when mixed with water, would emit a scent that would keep most beasts away. He then left the cave to quickly gather some firewood. He also gathered some fruits. When he returned to the cave, he created a fire before biting into a fruit.
Then he waited for Daren to wake up. Night passed away, and the suns rose. There were two in Celestria. But that didn't matter to Landor. What did matter were the groggy groans. Daren was awake.
Daren woke up with a pounding headache. It was different somehow. Familiar. He heard Landor say something, but he couldn't understand what he said. Also, why was Landor screaming into his ears? And what was going on? Why did everything feel slow? Or was he going too fast?
And what was that smell? He needed help. Landor would help. He opened his eyes, but quickly closed them again. It was too much. His heart was pounding like a drum, and he could feel the blood rushing throughout his body.
Landor looked at Daren, clutching his head and keeping his eyes tightly shut. He would flinch at every cackle of the fire. Realisation dawned on him. He quickly put out the fire while trying to be as quiet as possible. He even lowered his breath. Anything could trigger Daren.
Daren was experiencing sensory overload. He wasn't exactly sure, but he had seen something similar before. Though that was a story for another place and time. He sat down and began thinking. What could have caused this? A side effect of Daren draining the Aspen? No, that didn't make sense. What else had changed? That was it. Silver nerves.
His body was screaming at him from every angle. Every sensation: sound, touch, smell, etc. It wouldn't be a problem for most people, as they would get used to the gradual increase in sensitivity during the process of achieving Silver Nerves.
But Daren hadn't gotten that chance. He had achieved Silver Nerves far too early. It wasn't natural. And now, Daren was paying the price. He didn't move and just stared at the boy. He saw that Daren gradually began relaxing. He sighed in relief, even though only momentarily. His gaze sharpened.
Something was off. He was sure that the boy had become extremely chubby due to Essence Fat. As in 'difficult to see his eyes due to fat covering them', chubby. But why did he feel a little thinner? There wasn't much of a difference, but Landor was sure.
The Essence Fat was being used up. But how? It is ridiculously difficult, damn near impossible, to get rid of. And every time Daren seemed to lose just a smidgen of the fat, he would relax a little. What the hell was going on? A crazy thought struck him. Was his brain being literally fried and then healed with Life attribute essence in the fat?
Landor had guessed what Daren had done inside the cocoon when he heard those screams. Had the cycle of harming and healing become instinctive for him? While Landor was lost in thought, Daren was confused.
He was feeling extremely weird. The excruciating pain was easing. But, at the same time, his thoughts were getting faster and faster. The world was still screaming at him, but unlike before, he could understand what it was saying.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but at some point, everything felt clearer. He tried opening his eyes again. He first squinted and then opened his eyes little by little. He realised that he was in a cave. He saw Landor looking at him strangely.
"How… Are you feeling?" Landor whispered. But Daren heard him clearly. Daren was about to say something, but he felt strangely heavy. He thought, 'I must be still tired.'
He stretched his body. Or at least tried to. He then realised what the problem was. Well, saw it, to be precise. He saw his hand. His chubby hand. And worse, he couldn't see his feet. His belly was in the way. He looked at Landor in horror and asked, "Uncle Landor, what happened to me?"
Landor was silent for a moment before replying, "I believe that you have gained quite a lot of Essence Fat."
Daren replied, "That's not possible. Wait, what is Essence Fat?"
Landor scratched his nose and replied, "Well, it is an extremely rare condition, especially in the Reed Plains, so it makes sense that you haven't heard of it.
I won't get too much into the details. Our bodies store excess energy in the form of fat. Your Body Anima did the same. It stored the excess essence as fat, just like it would do with normal energy."